


Operation Girlfriend

by crs17 (readitallinonego)



Series: Modern Family [1]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, no love triangles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-01-17 19:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12372351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readitallinonego/pseuds/crs17
Summary: Christen caves and agrees to help her daughter find her ex-wife a girlfriend.





	1. Chapter 1

Christen takes a deep breath, trying to rally all of her patience so that she can get through the next five minutes without losing her temper. It will be a close call, but she can do it. Maybe.

Realizing she’s been garnering courage on the porch for a good five minutes, she pushes the doorbell quickly and hopes (against all odds) that her seven-year-old daughter is ready to go so they can leave right away. She should have known better, she thinks, when her ex-wife Alex Morgan opens the door scowling like she’s already preparing for a fight.

She probably is.

When Alex makes no move to let her in, Christen’s polite smile fades. “Uh, Allie called and said she couldn’t make it today to help us with the switch. Didn’t she call you?”

“She did.”

Christen chuckles to herself and tries not to roll her eyes at Alex’s childishness. “Is Mia ready?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh.”

Alex looks pained, but is apparently putting forward more effort than normal. “Would you like to come in?”

No. She doesn’t want to. But if she stands out here any longer, she just might melt in the California heat. “Sure. Thanks.”

Alex leads her to the main room and gestures to the couch for Christen to take a seat. “She’s cleaning up her bathroom. She should be down any minute.”

“She couldn’t have done that any other time?” She doesn’t _mean_ to sound critical. She just wants to make sure that she spends as little time with Alex as possible.

It’s better that way.

When Christen was in college, she thought there would be no one in the world who knew her like Alex Morgan did. Alex was the popular girl that Christen knew she didn’t have a shot with. Still, Alex was the girl that waited outside in the rain just to make sure that Christen got inside her apartment safely. She was funny, charismatic, and driven. Alex knew her inside and out and she knew Alex just as well. When they pledged their love to one another in front of all of their friends just after graduation, both of them knew that their love could conquer anything. Two years later, Christen gave birth to Mia and she thought she would feel this same blissful happiness forever.

Turned out, forever was only about two more years.

If Christen looked back on it, they were really just too similar and too selfish to be good for each other. Both of them were too stubborn to admit when they were wrong and too proud to apologize when they were right.

Their jobs didn’t help either. At the time, Alex worked for a large company, leaving Christen to be Mia’s primary parent while she travelled to foreign countries Christen had never heard of before. Christen trudged through her last semesters of grad school with a part-time wife and full-time baby and felt her own resentment grow until she could barely recognize herself. Alex quit her job so they could try to work on their relationship, but things only got worse. The more time they spent together, the more they fought. It was like a never-ending cycle of arguments and hurt feelings.

In short, it was a recipe for disaster.

The divorce was hard but they tried, for Mia’s sake to be civil as they tried to navigate the waters of divorced parenthood. But when Mia was five, she sat both her mothers down and asked them to stop ‘making each other sad’ because it was ‘not nice’. Being put in time out by a five-year-old was almost too much to take, but it was the catalyst that forced both of them to admit that they had a much better relationship at a distance. Allie, Alex’s longtime best friend and Mia’s godmother, stepped in to help and all three of them found that Christen and Alex did much better at co-parenting through a mediator.

For the last year, the system has worked perfectly. Allie swings by to pick Mia up every Sunday night and drives the ten minutes to the other parent’s house. They alternate weeks, holidays and birthdays and for the most part, Mia seems just as happy with the arrangement as Alex and Christen are. Christen and Alex live close enough that they are both in the school district boundaries so she never has to worry about missing out on something important with her friends, but far enough away that they don’t accidentally run into one another at the grocery store. They check in (through Allie) on major decisions and both have vowed to never criticize the other in front of their daughter.

It is the perfect system.

Well, it _was_ the perfect system.

Because Allie was busy today and now Christen was forced to face her ex-wife in enemy territory.

“Hello? Are you listening?” Alex crosses her arms over her chest and glares at Christen impatiently.

“Sorry.” Christen shakes her head, a little embarrassed at having tuned out whatever rant Alex had likely spewed at her.

“I _said_ I thought that _you_ were the one that wanted her to have, ‘the same rules at my house that she has at yours’? I asked her for the last three days to make sure it was done and here we are.” Alex retorts. “The bathroom doesn’t bug _me_ , so do you want me to tell her that she doesn’t have to do it?”

Christen bites her lip, tempted to tell Alex to do just that. But her long-time irritation at always being the responsible parent overpowers her current discomfort. It drives her crazy when Mia snarks back that she doesn’t have to clean her room at Mommy’s house or that Mommy lets her have ice cream for dinner. Some of that surely can’t be true, but years of gently reminding Alex—okay fine, it’s nagging. Whatever—to actually be a parent isn’t something that she wants to undo for her own convenience.

Plus (and maybe more importantly) she doesn’t want to give Alex the satisfaction of being right. “No. It’s fine. I’ll wait.”

Alex grimaces as if she had been expecting that. Looking almost as pained as Christen feels for them to spend even a few minutes together, she sighs. “She said she’s looking forward to spending time with your new girlfriend.”

She takes a deep breath even though she knows Alex isn’t going to believe a word she says. She’s really not looking for an argument, right now. She just wants Mia so they can spend their week together in peace. “For the last time, Julie is not my girlfriend. We’re just friends.”

“Right.” Alex rolls her eyes. “Because it’s _totally_ unlike you to go after the hot blonde barista that you’ve known for all of five minutes.”

“First of all, she owns a café. That hardly makes her a barista.” Christen snaps. “And secondly, I have known her for over a year. Finally, what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you have a type.”

“I do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not.”

“Really? That is your best response?” Alex rolls her eyes.

“It is because I don’t have a type.”

Alex arches her brow, folding her arms over her chest. "You do."

“You don’t know anything about my ‘type’.” Christen snaps, wondering just where Alex is getting all this ammunition.

“Of course I do. You like successful women who put up a challenge. They call you Christen Fuckboy Press for a reason.”

Christen bristles at the nickname she always hated. Sure, she appreciated flirting, but that was during her first years in college, before Alex even came into the picture. Now that she’s single, this shouldn’t even be an issue. “Nobody calls me that.”

“Really? Because I’m sure the string of broken hearts you left behind begs to differ.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You think we can live this close to each other and I won’t hear how you’ve probably slept with half of the moms on Mia’s soccer team? Get a clue, Chris.”

“You’re exaggerating.” Christen folds her arms over her chest. It was _maybe_ two of the moms at best. And really, they weren’t even that good so it should hardly count.

“What type of example do you think that sets for Mia?”

Christen hates it when Alex talks down to her like this, and can’t help but snap back at her. “That I have a healthy sex life? I don’t know Alex, do you want our daughter to be afraid of her sexuality?”

“No, but I also don’t want her to be some whore.” Alex snaps back.

 _‘And you think being a frigid bitch is any better?_ ’ Christen wants to retort. But instead, she grinds her teeth, glancing up at the staircase and willing her daughter to come down and end her torment. But just like Alex, Mia has never been on time for anything. When it is clear that Mia isn’t coming down any time soon, she narrows her eyes at her ex-wife. “Watch your language, because if I hear words like that coming out of Amelia’s mouth, I know who to blame. The last thing I need is to have her asking Julie if we’re fucking.”

“Then you admit it!”

“Would you stop twisting my words? There is nothing to admit! We aren’t just sleeping together—”

“I thought you were just friends?” Alex challenges.

“ _Not_ that it is any of your business, but we’re taking it slow.” Christen feels her cheeks heat up at the admission. She hasn’t been in an actual relationship in a while and things with Julie are different. It’s new and she still isn’t exactly sure herself what it is completely. She doesn’t appreciate having to explain herself to _Alex_ of all people.

“It’s my business when it affects my daughter.”

“Our daughter.” Christen corrects. She’s nit-picking, but she really doesn’t care. Mia may be her biological daughter, but she is every bit as much Alex’s daughter as well.

“Whatever.” Alex waves her hand dismissively. “You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

Just then, Mia thankfully starts make her way down the stairs rescuing Christen from any further interrogation. “Mama!” She breaks out into a run as soon as she sees Christen, launching herself at Christen as soon as she gets close and jumping into her arms.

Christen, for her part, had been slightly ill prepared for Mia’s signature greeting and has to take a step back to keep herself from falling backward when Mia wraps her legs around Christen’s waist. Mia really is getting too old for that, but Christen isn’t going to say anything. “Hey! Are you ready for our week?”

Mia lets herself down, nodding excitedly. “Yeah, Emily’s having a party Friday. Can I go? Mom said I had to ask you first.”

“Mom?” Christen looks over Mia’s head at Alex, somewhat surprised. _‘Not Mommy?’_ Christen mouths.

Mia frowns and pulls at Christen’s elbow, reminding her mom that she is still waiting for an answer. “So can I go?”

“Uh, sure. Do you have all your stuff?”

“No. I’ll be right back.” She rushes to go up to her room but stops before she gets too far. She turns around and looks at her mothers suspiciously. “Will you two be nice?”

Alex holds up two fingers. “Scouts honor.”

“Promise.” Christen agrees as soon as Mia is out of earshot, Christen shakes her head. “Mom? When did that happen?”

“A few weeks ago.” Alex smiles sadly.

“But you’ve always been Mommy.”

“I know. Apparently ‘Mommy is for little kids’.”

“Ouch.” Christen winces, still reeling at the thought of her baby being a snarky seven-year-old that won’t call her own mother Mommy. “I thought we agreed that she would stop growing up?”

Alex laughs at that. “I know, right?”

“I’ll tell her tonight that she can’t get any older.”

“Good luck with that. She’s too much like you. Never listens.” Alex scoffs, her insult lacking its usual bite.

“What was that?” Christen replies cheekily.

Alex moves to respond only to have the loud thumping of Mia’s descent down the stairs sound through the room.

“Bye Mom!” Mia jumps down the last few stairs and wraps her arms around Alex tightly, unaware that she had broken up one of the most positive interactions Christen and Alex had in years.

“Bye baby.” Alex kisses the top of her head.

Mia is quiet for most of the drive to Christen’s home, something that is fairly unusual for her. Normally, every drive is filled with Mia excitedly explaining whatever thought had drifted into her head. When Christen turns off the car, she turns around to face her daughter before they go inside. “Is everything okay?”

“I guess so.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Mia frowns, biting her lip in a way that looks so much like Alex it’s scary. Mia may be Christen’s biological daughter, but almost all of her mannerisms seem to come from Alex. After a minute, she sighs, “Mom is sad.”

Crap. Christen feels woefully unprepared to deal with this. Pre-teen drama? Sure. But helping her daughter navigate her ex-wife’s mood? That seems like a train wreck waiting to happen. “Mia, I’m sure she’s fine—”

“I think she’s jealous that you have a girlfriend.”

Christen chokes at that. “I don’t think that’s it.”

“She is! She’s sad.”

“I’m sure your mom is fine.” At this point, Christen is mostly just saying that for her own peace of mind. Alex surely isn’t _jealous_. That would be ridiculous.

“I think she’s lonely.”

Christen cringes. Is this the moment where she has to quash Mia’s dream of them being a happy family again? She’s seen 90s movies about divorced parents. One ended with the parents being locked in the basement. Has Alex been showing her movies like that? Is this where it starts? “Mia, your mom is a wonderful woman and she and I both love you very much. But your mom and I are never going to be together again—”

Mia pulls a face, honestly curious. “Why would you date each other? You’re dating JJ. She gives us doughnuts.”

Christen feels a rush of relief. At least she’s not going to have to worry about some parent trap situation. “And you like doughnuts?”

“Duh.” Mia rolls her eyes. “Obviously. Everybody likes doughnuts.”

Christen chuckles to herself. “Okay then.”

“Can we get some tomorrow morning?”

Christen feels her earlier worry dissipate. She’s kind of anxious to see JJ herself. “Of course we can.”

“But Mom is still sad.”

“Well what do you think should we do about that?” Christen poses the question. If Mia is worried about it, then she is happy to lend a sympathetic ear. Co-parenting with an ex definitely isn’t easy but Christen and Alex have found common ground in Mia. Alex may be a lot of things, but she is a great mother.

“We should find mom a girlfriend!”

Oh shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex has a convo with Allie and Christen is a pushover.

Alex sits at the kitchen table, nursing a glass of wine as she stews on the interaction of just a few hours ago. She turns the page to the scrapbook that contains Mia’s earliest memories in some vain hope that looking at her adorable daughter will help her get over her sour mood. She masterfully avoids any pictures of her ex-wife, well-practiced in this particular song and dance.

Unlike Christen, Alex had known full well that Allie had no ‘important appointment’ today. Instead, her former best friend had decided it was her job to try and meddle and get Christen and Alex to ‘talk’.

As if that could possibly do any good.

Alex swirls the wine in her glass absentmindedly as her fingers grace the image of her daughter’s chubby one-year-old cheeks. She hates switching day.

Not that she hates Christen, even if their interaction today seemed to show otherwise. Christen just knows how to push her buttons and get under her skin. It’s childish and she should be better than that, but she’s not.

So no, she doesn’t hate Christen per se, but she hates the weeks where Mia is at Christen’s because it leaves her in this big empty house all alone. This house that was supposed to be _their_ house for _their_ future. Most days, she doesn’t even bat an eye that Christen’s presence has long since been removed.

But when Mia’s gone?

It all just feels a little empty.

And _not_ because she misses Christen. She doesn’t. Not at all. Never.

Except for…she kind of does?

(Not that she would ever let Allie know that).

Because for all of her best friend’s qualities, Allie has somehow gotten it into her mind that Alex needs to start dating again. The very idea makes Alex’s stomach flop.

She misses the Christen that was her best friend, the Christen that was her confidant and the one who made her feel like she could accomplish anything. She misses the Christen that would support her no matter what. The Christen that thought she hung the moon. She misses the _idea_ of Christen, the idea of sharing a family with her and growing old with her.

But that ideal is gone.

It wasn’t as if either of them cheated on the other, or did something so completely unforgivable. No, they just didn’t really work. Alex didn’t just wake up one day to discover she had stopped loving Christen. It just got too hard and neither of them were able to hold onto their failing marriage any longer.

Maybe they could have tried harder. Maybe _Alex_ could have tried harder.

Even as she thinks it, she knows it can’t be true. She might miss the idea of Christen, but she definitely doesn’t miss the reality. She doesn’t miss the nagging, or the way Christen had an absolute talent for stealing all the covers at night, or the way she was _always_ freezing and kept their house at some ungodly temperature all the time, or how she would—suffice it to say she doesn’t _actually_ miss Christen.

No.

She doesn’t.

Not at all.

She just feels alone.

And she hates it.

She looks up and frowns, pulled from her thoughts when her front door opens and Allie barges in. She never should have given her best friend a key. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

“You should know by now that I don’t.” Allie quips with a wide grin. “So, how did the hand-off go?”

“Are you really calling it ‘the hand-off’?” Alex rolls her eyes. “She was picking up our _daughter._ Not handing off a baton for some relay.”

“I call it like I see it, how did it go?”

“About as well as you would expect.”

Allie tuts sympathetically, dropping her purse on the couch and making her way to the kitchen. “That bad, huh?”

“Actually, it _wasn’t_ that bad. We talked. Even agreed that Mia should stop growing up. She left, it was fine.”

“Fine, huh? So maybe you guys don’t need me after all.”

Alex narrows her eyes, somewhat tired of Allie’s manipulation. She knew her friend loved her, and she had been a godsend when it came to Mia. But sometimes Allie tried to take over Alex’s life a little too much for Alex’s liking. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think that Christen and I are ever going to get back together.”

Allie laughs, pouring herself a glass of wine and joining Alex at the table. “Are you kidding? Of course not.”

Alex scowls at her best friend’s response. “Then what was today about?”

“Today was about you two finally starting to grow up and get over each other.”

“I’m sorry that my ex-wife and I don’t get along.” Alex retorts, her jaw clenched tightly.

“I never said you had to get along. But does it always have to be World War III between you two?”

“Maybe it does.”

Allie sighs, and nudges her friend lightly with her shoulder. “Come on, we both know that Christen would be just fine if you didn’t attack her all the time.”

“She started it.” Alex grumbles, folding her arms across her chest.

“Did she?”

“God no. Why does she have to act so perfectly superior all the time?”

Allie has the good sense not to answer, and instead smirks. “Because she’s out of your league.”

“Gee thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Tell me again why you are my friend?”

“ _Best_ friend.” Allie corrects quickly, realizing that maybe her statement didn’t come out the way she meant. It’s one of the reasons that Allie loves Alex, she has always been able to be blunt and honest with her friend, but sometimes she forgets that Alex can’t read her mind. “And you are out of her league too. You are both in different leagues. I think that’s why you and Christen were never really going to last.”

“I happen to remember you saying something at our wedding about how we were the perfect example of a love story.”

“I lied.” Allie shrugged, not feeling bad in the slightest. “You are my best friend and Christen is hot, so of course I did. If you guys had somehow managed to make it work, I wanted to be your biggest supporter.”

“Then you admit you are a liar?” Alex counters.

“Maybe. But I’m on team Alex and it’s time that you and Chris stopped acting like a bunch of cute babies and started being parents again.”

“Allie—”

“No. This has gone on long enough. No wonder you haven’t had a chance to move on. You are still moping.”

“I’m not moping!”

“Al, I love you. But you’ve been moping for _years_ and it’s time to get over it. You’re divorced. It happens. That’s why it’s time for you to put yourself back out there.”

Alex takes a deep drink and scratches her brow. She knows Allie doesn’t mean it like that, but she hates when people belittle how hard the divorce was. Sure, there wasn’t cheating involved. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt. “Why does everyone keep saying that? What’s so good about putting myself out there?”

“Al—”

“No. Really? What good is putting myself out there? Sure, my life may not be exciting right now, but it’s comfortable. I can do what I want without everything I do being criticized. I’m happy.”

“Are you really?” Allie presses, gesturing to the glass of wine and the scrapbook. “Because whenever Mia is gone you put your life on hold. I just want you to be happy.”

“I’m happy enough.”

“Now who is the liar?”

Alex sighs. “Let’s face it, I’m thirty-two with a seven-year-old daughter. I’m not looking for some meaningless fling. Maybe that makes me old—”

“It does.”

Alex continues like she hadn’t been interrupted, “But what’s the point of putting myself out there? I’m not exactly anybody’s dream girl.”

“Don’t say that about my best friend.” Allie scowls. “I know you have this whole bitch-mode thing going on, but do you really not see that you are a catch? You are smart and gorgeous, with a high-paying job that I’m not even sure what you do—”

“I’m a senior market analyst.”

“See? It’s basically witchcraft!”

Alex chuckles, well aware that although they have had _many_ conversations on her job even though Allie still has no idea what she actually does. “No it’s not.”

“My point is that anybody would be lucky to date you.” Allie continues pointedly.

“Maybe I don’t want to just date.” Alex blurts out, the wine clearly having more of an effect than she anticipated. Still, now that she’s said it she might as well complete her thought. “Maybe I want to find _the one_. If they even exist.”

“It’s not wrong to be a romantic.” Allie practically swoons.

“It feels wrong. Maybe I had my shot at true love and I fucked it up—”

“There is no way that Chris was your true love. I love you, and she is amazing. But you two were terrible together.”

“We were not.”

“Yes. You were. Christen was too soft for you—”

“Chris? Soft? Yeah right.” Alex snorts. Christen was anxious and hyper-focused on every detail. “Soft” was definitely not the word that Alex would use to describe her ex.

“Christen cries at Disney movies. Christen was voted most likely to become the couple from 101 Dalmatians. She is the _definition_ of soft.”

“Then what am I?”

Allie levels Alex with a pointed look. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Yeah. I do.” Allie just levels her with a look and Alex concedes. “Fine. No, I don’t.”

“Good. So just accept that you and Christen were terrible together, but you somehow made a kick-ass daughter and get over yourself.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And now is the part of the story where you meet the love of your life and live happily ever after.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” Alex smiles sadly.

“Why not?”

Alex doesn’t have an answer for that. Instead, she takes a long sip of wine. It was going to be a long week.

* * *

Christen had done everything she could think of to try and distract Mia from her new plan. But just like Alex, when Mia put her mind to something she wasn’t easily swayed. Naively, she thought letting Mia play on her computer last night would distract her from her match-making goal. But if the power point presentation she had just shown as soon as they sat down at the café was any indication, this was going to be an obsession that went on for a long time.

JJ had been captivated, but Christen couldn’t shake the horrifying feeling that this wasn’t just some phase.

“I think it’s cute.” Julie grins, poking the little creases that formed on Christen’s brow when she was really worried about something.

“Stop.” Christen groans, keeping half an eye on her daughter who was being shown how to make the register work by one of Julie’s employees.  “I don’t know what to do.”

“It seems pretty self-explanatory.”

“JJ—”

“She even had a graph. How can you say no to a seven year old with a _graph_?”

Christen doesn’t even try to mask her pride at the comment, even if it was hand drawn the bar graph had been incredibly adorable. Instead, she shakes her head with a smile. “I don’t know where she came up with that.”

“I do.” Julie pinches Christen’s side playfully. “ _Somebody_ works too much.”

“You think so?” Christen bites her lip thoughtfully.

_Did_ she work too much? She had always criticized Alex for that very thing, had she been a hypocrite this whole time?

Julie sighs when Christen furrows her brow again, clearly having struck a nerve. She likes Christen. A lot. They may not have been dating long, but they have been friends for what feels like forever. She could one day maybe even love Christen. Christen is smart, funny, a little bit dorky and so, _so_ hot.

But then, sometimes, Julie feels like she is walking on eggshells. She says something and Christen suddenly shuts down and starts questioning everything. Taking Christen’s hand in her own, she rubs soft circles along the back and decides to try to keep her tone light. “Relax, I think it’s hot.”

Christen chuckles self-deprecatingly. “You do not.”

“I do. You’re driven and want to succeed. You love your job. That’s totally hot.”

“Liar.”

“Nope. And if we weren’t in the middle of my shop with your daughter ten feet away, I’d show you just how hot it is.”

Christen felt her mouth water at the insinuation. “Oh really?”

“Yep. I would—” Suddenly, Christen’s hand shot out and covered Julie’s mouth.

“You can’t say stuff like that!” Christen squirms. She may not know exactly what Julie was going to say, but she knows it would definitely not be what she would want her daughter to overhear.

Julie giggles in reply. “You are such a prude.”

“You weren’t saying that last night.”

“No, I definitely wasn’t.” Julie laughed. “You are too hot for your own good.”

“I know.” Christen grinned.

“And you know what else is hot?”

“What?”

“The fact that I know you and you are going to make your daughter happy by finding your ex-wife a girlfriend.”

Any budding arousal from this conversation was instantly sucked from the room. “Jules—” Christen whined.

“Quit grumbling about it when we both know that’s what’s going to happen. You might as well get it over with and join the party.”

“It’s not a party, it’s more like a funeral. _My_ funeral. Because Alex is going to kill me.”

“Oh come on, it’s not going to be that bad.”

“But Alex is _terrible_. I’m the _last_ person who should be finding her a girlfriend.”

Julie cocks her head to the side. “Why? Because you are still in love with her?”

Christen froze. Is that what Julie thought? That she had some latent feelings for her ex-wife? She would always love Alex…sort of. She would definitely never regret the time they spent together because it gave them Mia. But was she still _in_ love with Alex? Absolutely not. “What? No! Of course not.”

Julie erupted in a fit of giggles. She _didn’t_ actually think that Christen and Alex were still in love with one another, but she just couldn’t resist keeping Christen on her toes. Everyone came with baggage, Christen’s was just in the form of a practical super model named Alex Morgan.

Not that she would ever admit this to her, but Julie had already met Christen’s baggage face-to-face, outside of the ‘friendly’ (five second) introduction that Christen sprung on her when they started getting a little more serious. Being accosted by Alex Morgan wasn’t something Julie wanted to revisit, but it definitely could have gone worse.

After Alex had shown up right before closing and scared the bejesus out of her, Julie had doubts. Would dating Christen even be worth it? And when Alex made her promise not to take advantage of Christen, Julie started to have a mountain of doubts.

But after thinking about it for a while, it made a weird sort of sense. As much as Alex and Christen didn’t get along now, they would always be a part of each other’s life because of Mia. Julie was almost certain that their current custody arrangement just couldn’t last and a tentative peace would eventually be the only solution.

Mia came first. To both of them. Always.

Julie loved that about Christen.

Maybe this would be the first step in the right direction. And if it would make Christen happy in the long run, even if it would be uncomfortable, then Julie had to do everything in her power to help.

“You should have seen the look on your face.” Julie gasps once she’s able to regain a semblance of control.

“That’s not funny.”

“It was a little funny.”

Christen pouted and Julie leaned across the table to kiss her quickly. “Stop pouting. Your face will stick that way.”

“Did you just ‘Mom’ me?”

“Somebody had to. But you’re still avoiding the point. So how are you going to find Alex a girlfriend?”

Just then, Mia returns from her adventures at the front counter. “Did you see me take the money, Mama?”

“I did. You were great.” Christen pulls Mia into her arms to give her a big hug.

“I may just have to hire you.” Julie adds thoughtfully, raising her voice, she glances over Mia’s shoulder and calls loud enough for her day manager to overhear, “It seems like you did a better job than Steph ever does.”

Steph raises her middle finger in a silent reply.

Mia stuck her chest out proudly, missing Steph’s retort. She liked JJ a lot. Some of the other women her Mama went on dates with talked to her like she was a dumb baby. But JJ was nice and cool and had pretty hair.

“What are you talking about?” Mia asks, slipping into the chair next to her Mama.

“Your ‘Find My Mom A Girlfriend’ plan.” JJ replied honestly.

“Julie.” Christen hissed.

“What? We were.”

“Are you going to help?” Mia leaned forward in excitement.

Christen sighed. “I don’t think that’s the best idea. But maybe your Aunt Allie can help?”

“Why can’t you? Aunt Allie knows all the same people as Mom. If mom wanted to date any of them, she would already.”

Christen opens her mouth to argue but it’s a valid point. “But your mom is an adult. Sometimes grownups need to be able to make their own decisions. Having a girlfriend or boyfriend doesn’t automatically guarantee that your mom will suddenly be happy.”

“But she’s _lonely_.” Mia insisted. “Mom is sad whenever I come to your house. I don’t want her to be sad anymore.”

Christen groans. In what world is this her place? “Remind me of your plan again?”

Mia grins. If anyone can help her, it’s her Mama. “Step 1: Find out what she likes. Step 2: Find a girl that likes the same things. Step 3: They eat donuts together. Step 4: They go on dates together. Step 5: Mom has a girlfriend!”

“Well that seems pretty straightforward.” JJ agreed seriously.

Christen rolls her eyes at her sort-of-girlfriend, but Mia plan seems harmless enough. As long as her daughter doesn’t take it to the extreme, she should be able to placate Mia with an awkward but harmless date with one of her distant acquaintances. “Mia, if I help you find someone for your mom to go on a date with, you can’t be upset if things don’t work out. Your mom has to be able to make her own choices, even if you don’t agree. Dating is something that’s complicated and special – ”

“But you’ve gone on dates with _lots_ of girls and Mom hasn’t gone on a date with _anyone_.”

“Mia—”

“ _Lots_ and lots.”

“Who told you that?”

“I’m not _dumb_ Mama.”

Christen sighs. No, Mia isn’t dumb. But she’s far too much like both of them for Mia’s own good. “Fine. But I can only help your mom find a girlfriend if she says it’s okay.”

“What? But it’s supposed to be a surprise! You’re going to ruin it!” Mia cried incredulously.

Christen arched her brow in a silent warning. “What was that, Amelia?” She challenged.

Mia crossed her arms, but had the good sense to look apologetic. She may only be seven, but she wasn’t an _idiot._ She wasn’t going to find her Mom a girlfriend without her Mama’s help. She had to be careful not to get herself in trouble. At least her Mama was willing to help. That was the most important thing. “Sorry.”

“Your mom and I are your parents, and because of that all three of us are a team. I won’t meddle in her life just because I think it’s a good idea. If she says no, then this whole thing is off the table. Understand?”

Mia nods begrudgingly.

“But if she _does_ say it is okay, then I will help.” She promises, secretly hoping that Alex says no.

Mia mulls it over for a few minutes, thinking it through. “Will you ask her?”

“Will I ask your Mom if she will let me find her a girlfriend? No. I think you should ask her.” Christen smiles, wondering if there was any other way out of this. “It is your great plan after all.”

“Will you come with me?”

Christen frowns. She doesn’t like her daughter’s downcast look, especially compared to her excitement from just a few minutes ago. The tug at her heartstrings must drive her temporarily insane, because she finds herself nodding. “Of course. How about you make a list of the things your mom likes? Then I will ask your mom and _if_ she says it’s okay, JJ and I will see if we know someone that your mom would have fun with.”

Mia agrees far too quickly, running off to a table in the corner to work on her new project. Christen watches with concern, almost oblivious to the soft supportive circles Julie traces on the back of her hand. Somehow, she feels like this is just going to end badly.

But Mia is happy, and that’s all that matters.

Right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Christen are no match for Mia.

Alex sighs and looks at the clock, flipping through the channels again before landing on some crime show that looks mildly interesting. Thankfully, Mia comes home tomorrow and will be back home where she belongs. It isn’t as if Alex’s life _revolves_ around Mia. She has friends, and work, and hobbies (no matter what Allie says). But her life feels more complete when her daughter is around. When Mia is gone, it feels like there’s an emptiness that may never be filled.

It sucks.

She tries to focus on the TV show she has on, but it does nothing to keep her mind from wandering. Sighing, Alex grabs her laptop to finish up some work reports.

It’s too quiet for her to really concentrate but she tries anyway. The low hum of the ceiling fan and the AC switching on and off aren’t enough compared to the loud laughter that fills the halls when Mia is home. The difference is noticeable, and even Blue seems to be caught up in a mood because he is nowhere to be found. Pressing on, she manages to get fairly deep into some of her work when her phone rings in a welcome interruption to the silence.

But her heart stops at the name that displays along the screen, terror rising as she fumbles to answer it.

_Christen_.

Alex panics, her mind instantly coming up with a thousand different terrible scenarios. Christen hasn’t called her once in the years since their split, usually communicating through Allie or Mia for anything they need. Granted, she hasn’t called Christen either, but that doesn’t matter right now. Did something happen? Is Mia hurt?

“What’s wrong? What hospital are you at?”

_‘Mia’s fine. I’m fine.’_ Christen reassures quickly.

“Are you sure?” Alex has to place a hand against her chest, just to try and make sure her heart didn’t actually beat out of her chest.

_‘Absolutely.’_

“You scared the shit out of me.”

_‘I’m sorry.’_

Now that she knows her daughter is fine, she doesn’t have much patience for small talk. “If Mia’s fine, then why are you calling?”

_‘Yeah, I just—’_

“Just what? Spit it out Christen.” It comes out harsher than she intended, but she doesn’t have the energy to feel apologetic with the way Christen just terrified her.

_‘I just wanted to give you a heads up and I didn’t think that you would want Allie to know. So excuse me for trying to be a half-way decent person.’_ Christen snaps back.

Alex frowns at that, skipping the easy opportunity to insult Christen and narrowing her eyes skeptically. “Oh?”

_‘Our daughter thinks you are lonely.’_

“I’m not—”

_‘I don’t actually care.’_

“Then what is the big deal?”

_‘She begged me to set you up with someone. I don’t think she’s going to let this go, but I wanted to give you a heads up because she’s absolutely going to ask when I drop her off.’_

Alex laughs at the absurdity. “I don’t need _you_ of all people finding me a date.”

_‘What is that supposed to mean?’_

“It means, there’s a reason that I’m glad you don’t ever show up at Mia’s soccer games. You are bad enough as it is.”

_‘Don’t make it sound like I blow off Mia’s activities. Soccer is your time with her. I get the PTA. We agreed to that. Do you think I don’t want to go to her games? I would love to—Wait. Why? Is there someone you don’t want me to meet?’_

“That’s beside the point! You are impossible.”

Alex can practically feel Christen’s smirk on the other end of the line. _‘Interesting.’_

“No. Stop it. You’re not doing that. And if I wanted to date someone I would take care of it myself.” Alex insists stubbornly.

_‘I said that too! Mia won’t take no for an answer. Regardless, I wanted you to have time to think it over first. I told her that if you said no, that was the final say.’_

“So that I get to be the bad guy?” Alex scoffs.

_‘It would be a first.’_ Christen snarks in return.

“Great. Thanks for that. Couldn’t you just tell her no? Or I don’t know, ground her or something?”

_‘She loves you Al and wants you to be happy. Can I really get mad at her for that?’_

“You’ve gotten mad at me for less.” Alex grumbles.

_‘Just think it over.’_

Alex stares at her phone as the call ends, engulfed by the surrounding silence. She’s sure she won’t be able to think about much else.

* * *

Mia barrels through the door to Alex’s home, leaving Christen to awkwardly stand outside the door. Christen debates internally what she should do next. Should she just leave? She hasn’t done the whole drop off thing herself, and she _knows_ Mia would want her to stick around but that is exactly why she wants to leave.

Well that, and avoiding Alex has become something of a second nature.

But Mia doesn’t get far before she realizes her Mama didn’t follow and comes back, snatching away Christen’s opportunity for an easy exit. “Why are you waiting outside?”

“I can’t just walk in Mia, I don’t live here.” Christen tries to gently explain.

“But _I_ live here.”

“That’s not—” Christen tries to come up with an answer but doesn’t really have any comeback to that. With a sigh, she shuts the door gently behind herself. “Fine.”

She lingers in the entry way, slowly following Mia who darts farther inside to find Alex.

Five minutes later, she somehow finds herself sitting across from Alex at the dining room table, a hand full of UNO cards in front of her while Mia tries (unsuccessfully) to subtly bring up the subject of Alex dating.

Alex, for her part, is just as unwilling to push the subject as Christen is and after nearly an hour of playing dumb, Mia starts getting more and more frustrated.

“Mom, I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy baby.”

Mia turns to Christen, her eyes wide and pleading. “ _Mama_ , she’s not getting it.”

Christen has every intention of shaking her head and making Mia do this on her own, so she surprises herself when the words bluntly fall from her lips. “Mia is worried you’re lonely.”

“That’s sweet, Mimi.” Alex sighs, invoking the nickname that Mia insists she’s too old for. She _must_ be serious about this idea because Mia doesn’t say anything at the moniker. “But I am perfectly happy the way things are. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“If I don’t worry about you, then who will?”

Crap. She didn’t have an answer for that. She glared at Christen to try and get some help, but Christen seemed perfectly content to let Alex field this herself. “Santa.”

“Santa isn’t real mom.” Mia rolls her eyes in a perfect resemblance of Alex.

“Who said?”

“Everybody knows that.”

“Then, Jesus. Jesus will worry about me.” Alex grounds out, setting aside her annoyance that her daughter’s innocent believing heart is a thing of the past.

“You don’t believe in Jesus.”

“What about Blue?”

“Blue’s a _dog_.”

“You are too smart for your own good. Maybe I should stop sending you to school.” Alex grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest as she leans back against the chair.

“Mama! Tell her she can’t do that!”

“Alex, stop teasing her.” Christen warns.

“Who said I was teasing? Santa is important. And I’m pretty sure she hurt Blue’s feelings.”

“Santa isn’t _real_. And Blue can’t make sure you are happy either.”

Alex frowns. She liked it better when Mia just believed everything she said. “Fine. Aunt Allie can worry about me.”

“Aunt Allie has Bati. So you need someone too, and then when I’m at Mama’s house you guys can watch movies and eat popcorn.”

“Movies and popcorn, huh? Is that the cure for loneliness?” Alex chuckles despite herself, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She should not find this nearly as adorable as she does. Seriously, her kid was hilarious.

“With your _girlfriend_.” Mia sighs exasperatedly. “Duh. That’s why Mama is going to help. She finds the best girlfriends.”

“I’m sure she does.” Alex mutters low enough to avoid Mia’s detection.

“Don’t talk to your mom that way.” Christen chides gently, shooting Alex a glare to let her know that she had heard that comment perfectly. “And you can’t just tell her what we are going to do. You have to ask her.”

Alex scoffs lightly under her breath. It only figured that _now_ Christen had something to say. She couldn’t have helped Alex deflect the conversation earlier? Still, the sentiment is something she can’t really argue with.

“Sorry.” Mia barely manages not to roll her eyes this time, but the sentiment is felt just the same. “Mom, can we _please_ find you a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“You’re being ridiculous!” Mia jumps up, stomping her foot. “Why do you have to ruin everything?”

“Amelia!” Alex sits back, shocked. Mia has never talked to her like that, she is supposed to be the _fun_ one.

“That’s it. I warned you.” Christen glares at her daughter. This was the perfect out, because there was no way that she would be rewarding entitled bossy behavior. “I warned you that if your mom said no, that was the final say.”

Mia’s mouth drops open in betrayal. Her plan was perfect! But her moms had _ruined_ it. Her throat tightens, but suddenly a flash of brilliance strikes her.

Amelia Press-Morgan may only be a seven year old, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew it made her moms sad to talk about each other. But she _also_ knew the one thing that both her moms were afraid of. A surefire way to get exactly what she wanted. It was probably bad to threaten them just to get her way, but at this point she had nothing to lose.

“Fine! I’ll just ask Gran and Nana for help. They won’t say no.”

Alex swears under her breath. Her and Christen’s parents were doting grandparents that seemed to take great pleasure in being able to spoil Mia to the best of their abilities. For the most part this just meant extravagant gifts. But if there was anything in the world Alex’s mother loved more than her granddaughter, it was meddling in Alex’s life. Stacy was almost (if not equally) just as bad.

So how had Alex managed to be blackmailed by her own daughter? She would be proud if she wasn’t so annoyed.

Turning to her ex-wife, Alex grimaces. “This is your fault.”

“My fault? How is that?”

“I don’t know yet, but stay tuned because I am sure I will figure that out.”

Christen scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry, but this is _all_ you.”

“It is not. I am not nearly this devious.”

“And I am?”

“I seem to remember you charming that TA—”

“Oh really? What about the time that you practically held your boss hostage so that you could get a raise.”

“I deserved that and you know it.”

“You did. But this?” Christen gestures around them, “This is classic Alex Morgan level of trickery.”

Mia, like a shark circling its prey, can tell that her mom is losing her resistance to the idea. Finally, she decides it is time to pull out the big guns, opening her eyes wide she looks up at her mom with a soft pout. “Please mommy? I just want you to be happy.”

She should be strong enough to stop this, but there is something about being called mommy again with those big brown eyes that Alex is helpless to mount any more of a fight. “Fine.”

“Yes!” Mia dances in celebration and Alex has to laugh at Mia’s excitement.

“ _One_. Date.” Alex emphasizes for clarity. She might be a pushover, but she isn’t a fool. One date can’t be that bad. Right?

“Absolutely.” Christen quickly agrees, hoping that by showing a united front, Mia won’t be able to push them for more. Surely she can find someone to put up with Alex for a few hours.

It can't be  _that_ hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, Kelley was going to make her appearance, but that got pushed because the scene didn't want to cooperate.
> 
> Next up: Kelley makes her debut, Alex has a first date, we get a glimpse of some Preath


End file.
